Nicole Berghuis
Ask me about
- How I create a healthy work/life balance
- How I juggle a career and being a mum
- How to come a Scenes of Crimes Officer
About me
In Grade 11, we had a Scenes of Crime Officer attend our school for a presentation. I thought it was pretty cool, however, I found the Police uniform intimidating and was unsure of myself and how I would/could get from where and who I was to where and who I wanted to be. Between school, extra-curricular activities, casual employment and spending time with my friends and family I was already busy, and I found it hard to find time to plan my goals. With life goals, career goals and personal goals, all swirling around in my head, it was a challenge to work out how and when I wanted to achieve each of them, and I lacked guidance as to the ‘right’ pathway to success. I fumbled around for a little while, however, a key turning point for me was realising that there was no ‘right’ pathway to success. The most important thing to do was to ‘start’ something!
About my role
- Analytical
- Calm
- Disciplined
- Independent
- Observant
- Practical
- Resourceful
- Thorough
- Tolerant
- Trusting
- Understanding
A Scenes of Crime Officer in Queensland is a sworn, operational police officer who responds to urgent and non-urgent requests via our various communications systems including radio, phone, internal software programs and online public platforms. Urgent requests include murder investigations, sexual assault complaints, fatal traffic crashes, sudden death incidents, armed robberies, workplace accidents and burglary with violence offences. Non-urgent requests include arson investigations, located stolen vehicles, break and enter offences, assault complaints. Upon arrival at a crime scene, a Scenes of Crime Officer is responsible for making observations, keeping written and photographic records and collecting evidence including Trace DNA, blood, latent fingerprints, items of interest that may have been used in a crime, such as weapons, clothing and other property. In some cases, collected evidence must be packaged and transported for further laboratory analysis. It is important to maintain continuity of gathered evidence, to ensure reliability when produced for criminal proceedings.
Education
- Bachelor of Science
- Queensland Police Certificate of Appointment
- Diploma of Forensic Investigation
Subjects
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Geography
- Mathematical Methods (Maths B)
- Physical Education
- Physics
Awards
- Environmental Futures Centre 2011 Summer Studentship
- Griffith Award for Academic Excellence 2011
- Griffith School of Environment Head of School Commendation for High Achievement Semester 2, 2012 and Semester 1, 2013.
- 2013 Gold Coast Science Fair Speed Career Segment Certificate of Appreciation
Hobbies
- Beach adventures
- Camping
- Cooking
- Dancing
- Gardening
- Gym
- Hiking
- Netball
- Pilates
- Reading
- Seeing family and friends
- Swimming
- Volunteering
- Writing
- Yoga
Pets
- 3 Cat
- 1 Dog
- 1 Fish
15 year old me!!
My career journey
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Married young and became a mum to three beautiful children
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Bachelor of Science Degree whilst being a stay-at-home mum
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Part time job with an environmental monitoring company
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Began basic training to become a police officer
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Started Scenes of Crimes Officer position
My typical day
My employer
